Monthly Archives: December 2012

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Just for today, I need not fear anything for I have endured and survived the devastation of active alcoholism and, by the grace of AA and a Higher Power to which it led me, I have emerged not only intact but a better person. I have kept the faith in the Program, its Steps and Principles, the Power stronger than I and I found faith in myself that I never had before, and my gift has been the sobriety of the last 24 Hours. Having vested not only my heart and soul but my very life in this Program of recovery, I faced few terrors other than those within myself but met them with the guidance of the Steps. Now, nothing can compare and any fear from any source is something I know I can face responsibly, with faith and sobriety. Today, I have nothing to fear except the ghosts of my drinking past, and my Program has empowered me to move beyond them, to leave the fear behind. But I do not take for granted that the gift of sobriety is something I am owed or even deserve; I have an obligation to it, and that obligation begins with sharing the message. And our common journey continues. Just for today. – Chris M., 2012

AA Thought for the Day
I shall be loyal in my attendance, generous in my giving, kind in my criticism, creative in my suggestions, loving in my attitudes. I shall give AA my interest, my enthusiasm, my devotion and, most of all, myself. The Lord’s Prayer has become part of my AA thoughts for each day: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Have I given myself?

Meditation for the Day
As we look back over the year just gone, it has been a good year to the extent that we have put good thoughts, good words and good deeds into it. None of what we have thought, said or done need be wasted. Both the good and the bad experiences can be profited by. In a sense, the past is not entirely gone. The result of it, for good or evil, is with us at the present moment. We can only learn by experience and none of our experience is completely wasted. We can humbly thank God for the good things of the year that has gone.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may carry good things into the year ahead. I pray that I may carry on with faith, with prayer and with hope.

Reflection for the DayGod grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change; COURAGE to change the things I can; and WISDOM to know the difference – living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it: Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

Today I Pray
May I look back at this past year as a good one, in that nothing I did or said was wasted. No experience – however insignificant it may have seemed – was worthless. Hurt gave me the capacity to feel happiness; bad times made me appreciate the good ones; what I regarded as my weaknesses became my greatest strengths. I thank God for a year of growing.

Today I Will Remember
Hope is my “balance brought forward” – into a new year’s ledger.

Every man at some time arrives at a place where the course of his entire future rests upon a decision. Judas was one day a saint and the next the betrayer of the Lord.

We members of AA also had our moment of great decision. Many more days of decision will probably be our lot, but by the Grace of God and our new-found sobriety, we can meet any situation by reliance on God’s Will rather than our own.

Tonight, at midnight, a new year will begin. None of us know what the new year will hold. But we can trust ourselves to hold on to the spirit of recovery as we go through the year. As a new year is about to begin, we can rejoice in our new way of life. We can give our will and our life to our Higher Power. By doing these things, we’ll be ready for the new year.

Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, I pray that I’ll start the new year safe in Your loving arms, I pray that I’ll keep working my program.

Action for the DayTonight, at midnight, I’ll say the Serenity Prayer. I will think of all the others who will join me in my prayer. We are a recovering community.